Never mind the elevated crime rate, the soggy economy and the empty city coffers.

Those are nothing.

Instead, try standing atop a 30-foot telephone pole, as it sways slightly side to side, and leaping off to snatch a trapeze bar 10 feet away. Or clamber up another pole and test your balance picking your way across a balance beam high over the heads of the people watching you.

Those are just a couple of the opportunities at Cal State San Bernardinoâs new challenge course, which opened this past week after a couple of delays.

Mark Oswood, 38, is the schoolâs outdoor programs coordinator and designed the new course. He said the slowed opening of the facility was due to safety concerns. University officials were used to checking specifications on buildings, but didnât have experience with what amounts to an oversized playground.

âOne person wanted proof that it was built properly,â Oswood said. âAnd it took awhile providing that.â

Oswood said the course was built to standards established by the Association for Challenge Course Technologies, a Scotts Valley-based industry organization. It took just two weeks to erect the $230,000 complex.

It is the largest challenge course in Inland Southern California, said Oswood, who was at UC Riverside from 2002-2007 directing the challenge course there. This course, which features three roofed towers and a mix of other Lincoln Log-like structures tied together with wires and netting, offers a variety of activities including a climbing wall, a giant ladder and a host of swinging gadgets.

âWe have about 30 different activities in the air,â Oswood said. âSome are more physically challenging, some are as easy as climbing a set of stairs. But you have to be willing to step outside of our comfort zone.â

For Camille Singleton, 10, of Rancho Cucamonga, that meant slipping off a 40-foot-high platform and sliding down a zip line. Her anxiety was lessened, she said, because her sister, Alexis, is one of the workers on the course.

âShe was helping me through everything,â Camille said. âShe kind of gave me a push. At the beginning, I closed my eyes. Itâs kind of like going down a rollercoaster.â

Camille said the idea of walking the balance beam was too frightening for her, but she was ready to tackle the climbing wall. Her father, Marlon, 42, said the 30-foot wall looked intriguing to him as well. He also had his eye on the trapeze leap.

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